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OF

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY,

ON

A NEW PLAN;

DESIGNED FOR

ACADEMIES AND SCHOOLS.

BY REV. CHARLES A. GOODRICH.

ILLUSTRATED BY ENGRAVINGS.

Hartford:

PUBLISHED BY H. & F. J. HUNTINGTON.
NEW YORK:

JONATHAN LEAVITT, WHITE, GALLAHER & WHITE, AND R. LOCKWOOD.

BOSTON:

RICHARDSON & LORD, CROCKER & BREWSTER, AND

PEIRCE & WILLIAMS.

MDCCCXXIX.

MARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY

GIFT OF

GEORGE ARTHUR PLIMPTON
XY 25, 1924

District of Connecticut, ss.

Be it remembered, That on the 17th day of July, A. D. 1829, in the $4th year of the Independence of the United States of America, Charles A. Goodrich, of the said District, hath deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as author, in the words following, to wit: "Outlines of Ecclesiastical History, on a new plan; designed for Academies and Schools. By Rev. Charles A. Goodrich. Illustrated by Engravings." In conformity to the Act of Congress of the United States, entitled "an Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the time therein mentioned." And also to an Act, entitled, “ an Act supplementary to an Act, entitled an Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints." CHARLES A. INGERSOLL, Clerk of the District of Connecticut. A true copy of Record, examined and sealed by me,

CHARLES A. INGERSOLL, Clerk of the District of Connecticut.

P. CANFIELD-PRINTER.

PREFACE.

A FEW years since, the Author of the following Compend published a small History of the United States, designed for Schools, on a new plan. The general approbation expressed in relation to that work, has induced him to apply the plan to an Ecclesiastical History, designed for a similar use. The result of this application is herewith presented to the public.

The Author is not sanguine, however, that the work will meet the expectations of his friends, who have been apprized of its intended publication, and who have kindly encouraged him to go on. Much less probably can he justly anticipate the approbation of the public at large. Ecclesiastical History is a peculiar subject. It presents a field of great extent, and difficult to be reviewed within the proper compass of a school book. An outline, therefore, only could be attempted; but even this has swelled the work beyond the original intention, and in some instances, it is feared, that the chain of events is not preserved as entire as would be desirable.

But a source of still greater anxiety remains yet to be mentioned. The people of the United States are divided, as are the people of all Protestant countries, into a variety of religious denominations. It is not surprising that jealousies to some extent should exist among these denominations; and that an Ecclesiastical History which affects to speak of them, should meet with a jealous scrutiny. This scrutiny may well be expected in relation to such a History, designed for the Schools of the country. In these Schools the children of the several denominations meet promiscuously. A work on a religious subject intended for general use, should therefore be written in view of this important fact.

This fact the Author has endeavoured to keep in view, while preparing the following sheets. He has aimed to treat every religious denomination with candor. He has not considered it his province to enter into the discussion of controverted points; nor to give his individual opinion on which side the truth lies. He has endeavoured to confine himself to facts, and to facts of importance. He wishes it, therefore, to be distinctly understood, that he has aimed to treat every denomination with a Christian spirit; and if in the following pages, there be any departure from this, it has not been designed.

The Author begs leave, not with a view of provoking the spirit of criticism, to invite the attention of the friends of education to the following work. Suggestions with reference to errors which may be found, or to any improvements which may be made in the work, will be thankfully received.

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